Self-Isolating

The last time I was outside our apartment was last week - we both went to a group lunch on Wednesday

Then I went for a doctor's appointment at the hospital on Thursday, and Rick voted on Sunday.

On that same weekend, our Prime Minister called for social distancing, and the internet provided all sorts of information about how long the coronavirus survives on surfaces.

We also got illustrations on how social distancing works to contain the spread of the virus

So many people were not paying attention, that Macron and our Minister of the Interior added appeals to our citizenship, our solidarity.

(for me, for you, for us, I'm staying home)

Unfortunately, the new rules for self-isolating, for confining yourself to home, and for limiting the number of people in one place, caused a bottleneck at the supermarket entrance. Tuesday morning, the crowd waiting to get into the market was waaay too bunched up. A little later, they had gotten a little more organized, but still, it was not someplace I wanted to be!

Fortunately, even with the limited supplies, our Coronavirus War doesn't come with the sorts of rationing seen during WWII...

1 week supply for 1 person

We did start rationing our fresh vegetables - normally, we get some at every meal, and we cut out one per day.

We spent an enormous amount of time slogging through the Auchan Drive (drive-through groceries) website. It was overloaded, and just couldn't keep up. We eventually got an order made, but couldn't get an appointment to pick it up until Monday! And, there were no veggies or milk (or many other things) available, at all! The next day, we set up another trip, this time for Wednesday. After 3 years in France with nothing but fresh vegetables, we will be reminded, next week, just what frozen green beans and broccoli are like...

Given that the objective is to go out as little as possible, to stay home as long as possible, our approach is to eke out our supplies, and hope that the supermarkets settle down and restock.
Today, I tested that theory. I filled in my attestation, and drove off.

The attestation - fill in your name, birthdate, and address, check off the reason you're out, sign and date it, and carry it and your ID with you. Yesterday, French police gave out over 4,000 tickets, of 135€ minimum.

My shopping results? FANTASTIC!
I got there in the middle of lunchtime, and there was no line at all! Even better, the shelves were nearly fully stocked! It was such a relief. I decided against buying UHT milk (I've had enough, thank you), and kept myself from loading up on anything else (well, not much anyway). All throughout the store, people were calm and friendly, making sure to keep their distance from one another. At the check out, the counter between the clerk and customers had a new plexiglass barrier, to help enforce the distances. When I left, I was directed to go out a different way (avoiding the people coming in the entrance). As I was leaving at 2:15, there was a short line starting, but nothing at all like the mess on Tuesday morning!

So, today's (late) lunch was a sandwich, on a *fresh* baguette! Miam, miam!